What are you doing Kurenai?
by creyzi4zb12
Summary: Shikamaru/Kurenai pairing. This is my first Naruto fanfic, please review!warning: Some mature contents noted.
1. Chapter 1

Tales of the Shinobi War 1

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Genin = A lower ranking Shinobi, serves mostly as reserve troops during the war

Gestation = the process of carrying an offspring in the womb during pregnancy

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of.

Supporting Characters: Akumu = A big fat jounin in the Fourth Division

Matsuo San = A red haired female jounin in the Fourth Division

Gin San = A sadistic looking jounin in the Fourth Division

What are you doing Kurenai?

Almost all ninjas from the major villages of the Shinobi world were recruited when the Fourth Great War of the Ninjas erupted. Drastic times such as these proved to be disastrous not only to the prosperity of the non-militant populace, but also to their health and wellbeing. Majority of the food supplies in the village was sent to the battle-lines, leaving the civilians hungry and weak. Health-care and safety services were no longer diverted to the civilians, since they would be needed more for the survival of the injured ninjas during the war. It left the villages in a state of standstill, a point where production had stopped. Famine, high morbidity and mortality rate is expected a few weeks after the transitions occurring.

It wasn't as if the people of Konoha were new to a crisis such as this. Even the populace that was considered as too young, old or weak to join the war was strong. These are people, who in the midst of battles like the Siege of Orochimaro and the Attack of the Paths of Pain were able to come out scathed, but alive and strong. They crawl, believe, and persevere with the great determination to continue on living. But these people, who were no longer protected by powers of the shinobi left themselves prone to interventions from third parties during the war. Third parties: which would imply to scavengers, and ninjas from smaller villages whose sole purpose was to destroy, terrorize or raid weak groups for whatever benefits they may get.

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Shikamaru couldn't run the road which led to Konoha's sanatorium. He had to walk, or rather, walk fast. People were everywhere, every twist and turn he could see them; children being carried by their mothers, adults who seem to be the ones in charge of carrying supplies of the house, some were strong enough to lift four sacks of rice, while the others a bit skinny and weak, and had to carry smaller stuff in a backpack, the elderly who in the midst of the crowd seemed to fall down to their knees and get trampled, and then there was the family who walks rather slow to give way for their children and elders. He(Shikamaru) occasionally bumps a person here and there as he searches for Kurenai in the crowd.

There were many in distress, and Shikamaru could feel a pang of guilt every time he notices an old-woman here and there fall on their knees from the skimpiness of the crowd. A few genin's begin to help her up, and Shikamaru feels a bit at ease that he no longer has to intervene. Not that he would do that right now, he had no time to meddle in the affairs of others. There were more pressing issues at hand. Kurenai is still weak from giving birth to her baby. She may have not adjusted fully to go back in being a capable survivalist because of the past 40 weeks of her gestation. Shikamaru fears that Kurenai would be lost and vulnerable in the crowd. Health was poor nowadays, and the air/ventilation from such a crowd would prove unhealthy for both her and the baby. Not to mention the long walk to other havens.

He needed to find her, had to find out that she was okay, and had to ensure her safety. He made a promise to his mentor and friend that he would protect Kurenai. A burly fellow carrying two sacks of potatoes crashes on his back, almost tripping him to the ground. Guts show up in his sweaty face, not from the annoying behavior of the man, but from the fact that it had already wasted three hours of search in the huge crowd and still there was no success.

Shikamaru once asked the proper authorities if they saw a woman carrying a baby around. Seeing that this was the first good approach, Shikamaru tried it. But the authorities on the march only led him to different women who recently gave birth. He tried giving them Kurenai's name, but the genin's job in the civilian march was more of a watcher. And even though proper documentation was done, the lack of uniformity in the march led to problems in finding somebody particular. The genin's simply did not have the time and resources to help Shikamaru in his problem.

"You think we have enough time for you to look for your mommy? You're already big enough to punch a guy. Do it yourself sir, we are in a big hurry right now and cannot be bothered by these stuff" The lead genin would speak, a brat probably 3 years younger than him which led him to remember an arrogant but talented ninja named Naruto from the way he spoke. Only this one had more of the arrogance and less of the talent.

Shikamaru was so angry at this notion that he almost slapped the genin in the face. He resisted the urge by reminding himself that finding Kurenai was most important here. And being in the bad side of the authorities in such a chaotic setting was not good, especially if you needed access to documents regarding the one you are looking for.

He could imagine Kurenai with her baby skimping through the crowd, trying to make enough space to breath and move, shouting "make way please, make way", falling down to the pavement in the midst of the crowd, stampeded by the unforgiving walks of this desperate mob. The horror of these thoughts rattled Shikamaru.

In a fit of blind determination he puts his hands close to his mouth, raises his head amidst the skimpy crowd, and calls out for Kurenai's name. Perhaps through this desperate act she is able to hear him and respond. He repeats the calling out her name for several minutes until a man comes in and taps him in the back.

"Excuse me sir, are you looking for Miss Kurenai?" The man seems to be 5 years Shikamaru's senior, but due to the sickly frame he carried, he looked more like a grandpa than a proper man.

"Yes, do you know her? A woman, probably in her late twenties, has red particular eyes, long shaggy black hair, she recently delivered a baby." Shikamaru spoke fast, he couldn't believe the relief that he had felt after that man's intervention.

"Yes that's her alright, miss Kurenai, our Mistress of the Needy." The frail man replied.

"Mistress of the Needy?" Shikamaru's questioned expression came out.

"She looks after us from the hardships we've received in this hell of a place." The frail man nods his head. "They say she was once a jounin, and one of the best in Konoha, she looks out for the sick, and scouts ahead of us for bandits and rogue ninjas."

"What?" That couldn't have been Kurenai, she had recently given birth, and will have had a hard time looking out for herself because of this. How could she give time for the needs of the evacuation when she couldn't even help herself? "Are you saying that, Kurenai helps you guys out?"

"Not just the needy, but all of us." Replied the frail man, he tries to spread his arms, but the crowd was too skimpy that he and Shikamaru had to walk while talking to each other.

"What about the genins in this march? Aren't they the ones looking after you all?"

"Oh forget them, they aren't able to do much, a few days ago we were attacked by some rogue ninjas, and they were badly loosing, a good thing Miss Kurenai came out to help them. With her great shinobi moves, she was able to make them retreat."

"But she's recently given birth? That job would be too stressful for her!" Shikamaru had to scowl for the frail man to hear him. He was angry, and worried at the same time for Kurenai. She needed to rest in a time like this, not go on using ninjutsu to help people.

"I don't know about you sir, but the way I see it, she's pretty much strong." A woman couldn't help but overhear their conversation and was now butting in. She was on her middle adulthood, wearing an apron and a white cap on top of her head.

Shikamaru deduced that reasoning with these fellows would be useless. He had to get to her on his own. He had to try and convince her that her health was not well enough for her to do ninja-stuff, like using jutsus and such. He scratches his head and tries to be ignorant and dumb from the events occurring.

"Does any of you know where she is right now?" Shikamaru's face was more of a person out of clue when he asked the question. It was all just an act to try and not be hostile to these _would be followers of her. _"I need to find her, er.." Shikamaru couldn't say that he was friends with Kurenai, maybe these guys wouldn't believe him for that statement. "I need to ask her help in finding my sister who is lost in this crowd."

The frail man and the woman with a white cap and apron looked at each other for a few seconds. They then turned their heads to Shikamaru. "Nobody knows where she is, all we know is that she is always there whenever a problem comes out."

Shikamaru's mind was already thinking up of alternatives to achieve his goal fast, there are countless situations he could create to draw Kurenai out. But then again, the thought of having to put any civilians (even though they weren't from Konoha) in danger was a bit too much for his morals. Then it suddenly occurred to him, if Kurenai is out when a problem is seen in the evacuation march, then the best way to find out if there are problems in the march is through asking the genins in charge of the watching over the evacuation march.

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Somewhere along the not so far outskirts of Konoha several ninjas from the Fourth Division are seen standing in the rocks. These ninjas were jounins, probably one of the best in their respected villages. One of them was Shikamaru's long childhood friend Choji.

"What's taking the head tactician so long? He said he would be here before 2:30 PM, well guess what! It's already two thirty!" The jounin known as Akumu was screaming out to the group. He wore the similar flak-jacket the usual shinobi soldiers wore. He was big, almost the same size as Choji, with a pig-like ugly face filled with scars and a short orange hair that stood 7 inches forward to his front (very short). He had a big round nose and a belly even bigger than Choji. He carries a huge thin red scroll on his hand, making use of it like a staff for walking.

"It's not yet 2:30 PM, you need to do something about that clock of yours fatso!" Choji (I don't think I need to give a description for him ) mumbled out.

"What? Who are you calling fatso? Fatso!" Akumu glowered at him, sticking his face close to Choji's.

"Just take a look at your belly, it's so big that….that I wonder why you're a ninja!" Choji almost choked his apple-pie from Akumu's retort. A few stales could be seen spewing out of his mouth into Akumu's face.

"Oh yeah, well I bet I'm more of a ninja than you!" Screamed Akumu

A female ninja stepped in between the two, she was very lithe, and wore the same flak-jacket of the ninjas, but hers was different from the fact that she had a sleeveless shirt underneath it, showing off her shapely shoulders to the two. But those shoulders were nothing compared to the legs she showed off from the short pants she wore below the flak-jacket. She wore a straight red long hair, had a long nose, red distinctive eyes, a red lips which are made redder by her lipstick, and red globe earrings hanging from both her ears. "That's enough you two, Shikamaru said that if there is a possibility that he would be late, then we would go ahead besides him." Matsuo spoke.

Another jounin came into the conversation. This time it was a man, wearing the typical ordinary uniform a ninja wore (flak-jacket, black clothes beneath), his face is obscured by the long pointy farmers hat he wore, he seems to be carrying a score of kunais and small katanas strapped on his body. When he looked up to reveal his face it showed the look of a smiling person, with a sharp well defined head, reptilian eyes which eyeballs seem to empty out into a cruel coldness. "Matsuo san is right, if the head-tactician will not arrive by now, we'll just have to take his word for it."

Choji bit his lip from the annoyance of these three jounins, he couldn't make the events into his favor. These ninjas were not from the hidden leaf and didn't care a damn about what would happen to Shikamaru. He needed to buy Shikamaru enough time to get to them to the main body of the Fourth Division. What was taking Shikamaru so long anyway? He said he would just go try to find out if Miss Kurenai was okay.


	2. Chapter 2

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Hand Seal = Hand symbols done to create a jutsu (e.g. in Naruto's Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu his hand forms into a cross, hence the hand hand seal)

Hand Cant = A series of hand symbols for communicating silently

Nara Ninja = A ninja clan where Shikamaru belongs to, usually in charge of intelligence and experiments in Konoha

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi Forces/Joint Shinobi Alliance during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of. It is being led by Gaara of the Sand.

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Body Flicker Jutsu = More like a teleportation jutsu, in which the shinobi casting the jutsu disappears in a puff of smoke and appears in a distance in another puff of smoke.

Supporting Characters: Akumu = A big fat jounin in the Fourth Division

Matsuo San = A red haired female jounin in the Fourth Division

Gin San = A sadistic looking jounin in the Fourth Division

Nakoruru = Rogue Shinobi woman

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi second hand of the Blue Ninja

What are you doing Kurenai?

Shikamaru had already decided that he would further delay himself in joining Fourth Division. Generally speaking: His rally point was supposed to be the opposite direction to where he was headed off right now. But he did not have any regrets when he put first priority the woman whom his mentor and friend considered to be the most special person to in the world.

After arriving to a conclusion that Kurenai Yuhi would appear most certainly in problems occurring with the evacuation, Shikamaru worked hard asking shinobi authorities of problems occurring in the march. The difficulty with his scenario was that the village evacuations were protected by a handful of inexperienced shinobis. Most of the members in the ESR (Evacuation Shinobi Reserve) were genins and chuunins who were either too young or too old. There were a few jounins here and there, and it was them that Shikamaru went to. He'd known some good jounin's in Konoha joining the evacuees in the march, particularly Iruka-sensei. It was Iruka whom Shikamaru would've first gone to for help. Unfortunately for today, Iruka-sensei was away on scouting duties for the ESR.

Shikamaru had feigned to try and be useful in solving evacuation problems. He marched himself to one of the ESR tents and introduced himself as a Nara ninja, sent by the Hokage to assist them in their evacuation. A female jounin gave him a paper which documented the problems in the ESR march. Shikamaru thanked her for it, and began reading its pages while walking along with the civilians.

The contents of the paper mostly included stuff about diarrhea, hunger problems, skin problems from too much exposure to the sun and from too much marching. The clients usually comprised of elders and women. There were some unusual problems here and there that he encountered; like this one issue where a mother and son beat a genin half to death for scolding them for not being in line. He had to find something that had relevant value about Kurenai. He thought fast of instances where a skilled shinobi like Kurenai would be needed, but there were just too many problems here for him to make a conclusion.

" If Kurenai were to take action in helping the march, where would it be?" Shikamaru mumbled and turned the papers to the front-most part which detailed the most up-to-date issues there was in the evacuation. It says in the page a community diagnosis, something about rogue-ninjas attacking/raiding the march every night. That's it! This could be a problem big enough for Kurenai to appear at. The shinobi in charge of the evacuations defense must have had a hard time fending off rogue-nins; After all, they were very inexperienced, too young and too old to do battle that they were actually regarded as a reserve by the Joint Shinobi Alliance.

For Shikamaru to join the events occurring in the evacuation defense he would have to wait it out until night time, but his teammates in the Fourth Division was waiting for him to rendezvous. Maybe they would go ahead and join the rally point, leaving Shikamaru by himself to travel towards the front-lines.

He could picture out Choji's disappointed look in trusting him that he would not be late in the muster. Or maybe that Gin fellow, who was most hesitant for him being nominated as head tactician would try and take his place and role in the Fourth division. Or worse, Gaara the Supreme Commander of the Fourth Division would deny his membership and dismiss him to more petty jobs away from the front. Not that he did not want that to happen, he would be glad being shifted to a safer assignment, but the responsibility and Will of Konoha was embedded into his heart, and Shikamaru would gladly sacrifice his life in exchange for a victory against their enemies.

But Kurenai, he needed to make sure that she was safe. Why was she doing battle anyway? She has just given birth 2 months ago, and was still weak from all those months of confinement. He needed to help her in this issue, needed to scold her into looking out for herself first and not for the civilians, for her baby, for Asuma-san, for himself. Why himself? What could he gain from stopping Kurenai's intentions anyway? Then he shrugged the thought away and rationalized that her baby and Asuma were reasons enough for him to take action.

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Beneath the shades of the tall blue trees of Hizan, a forest not far away from where the evacuation was stood a ninja who wore nothing but blue. His entire face has been obscured, and only his eyes were visible from the slit in the middle of his blue mask. He wore loose ninja clothing, which showed triangular netting below the neck (think of Hinata's outfit which shows a net on the neck). The only thing which made him look different to the ninja army he commanded were two huge black shoulder pads made of leather.

He stood on a rock overbearing the ground, crossing his arms, and his back looking at the ninja army that he commanded. He doesn't need to talk to communicate, to them. The only thing that he does to deliver a message is raise his hands, put on a few hand-cants, and by deciphering the cant, his followers would know what his orders are. Only a few have seen his face and have heard his voice. He is a secretive ninja master, the self-proclaimed Kage of the South-east, Amano.

To the highest bidder, we are tasked to take back that artifact which the evacuation ninjas at Konoha have taken from us. They are, right now, travelling towards "Ka-ru-ra" town, body-guards expected, ninjas from the great Hidden Leaf. We go, full force tonight, and get the job done as quickly as possible. But remain silent, kill and remain anonymous. Planning is given responsibility to Nakoruru and Saizo. I will assist from the shadows, when the woman with the baby comes tell me at once, I will take care of her, go with speed and silence.

And in a puff of smoke, the blue kage disappears in the rock that he is standing at. His disciples begin chatting to one another, and continue on with the plan.

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Shikamaru was lying on a log (on top of an ox), a piece of long grass protruded from his mouth as he chewed on it lazily. He looked at the horizon to wait for the rogue-ninjas to attack. He had hoped that they would attack tonight, he needed to see Kurenai badly, and waiting for night-time seemed like an eternity. He couldn't help but feel the trickle of sweat down his cheeks from the tension.

To Shikamaru it felt as if time moved too slow today, there were so many things in his mind that he had to adapt his thoughts for these issues. There was the Fourth Division; more than a few members of the team must have gone ahead of him. He remembered his word to Choji, his long friend, before he went out to look for Kurenai. Choji must be very disappointed in him for breaking his word. Would he look for him? Would the other members of the Fourth Division look for him? After all, he was their head tactician (despite Gaara being the Commander). Maybe the battle won't start too soon, and he would have enough time to save Kurenai and get into the debriefing area after.

And there was also Kurenai. Things had gotten out of hand already about her, from trying to find out how she fared, to actually interfering with her actions. When he was relaxing on top of a tree, it dawned on him why he hadn't thought of Kurenai faring on her own. She was an adept enough ninja. Maybe she could actually do this after all. But he shook his head, and cursed himself for being too selfish. He had sworn to protect her, had sworn it on Asuma's grave, had sworn it to himself, and he was not taking any chances.

He closed his eyes, some part of him was able to picture out Kurenai, of how she would have been very happy showing Asuma his offspring. Maybe Asuma would hold the baby up in the air, and speak something encouraging that the baby wouldn't understand, and then the baby would pee on his father's face in a funny fashion. Shikamaru had to chuckle a little bit for the imaginary joke he made about his mentor. They would soon bless the baby, and let Shikamaru hold it during the blessing. They could even get married, and Shikamaru would be the best man in the wedding. An imaginary Shikamaru is soon seen in a corner inside a crowded church, dressed in formal attire to Asuma and Kurenai's wedding.

Shikamaru opened his eyes, waiting for something to happen in the civilian march, nothing yet. He closed them and pictured out Kurenai once again. This time it was a woman in despair that was painted on his thoughts. He saw a pregnant Kurenai lying down on the floor, crying heartedly due to the death of the father of her child. Instead of Asuma holding the baby, it was only Kurenai cradling it on her own, putting it to a crib, then looking outside the window, to the horizon, thinking of what could have been. Instead of the church being crowded, Kurenai is seen slowly walking alone to the pedestal. Shikamaru is still at the corner, no longer in formal attire, but in his shinobi-uniform.

Shikamaru opened his eyes again, looking at the march. It was already dark, dark enough for an ambush to occur, and dark enough for an ambush to be perfect. He scans the march once again, there were too many civilians here, too much of a burden to protect, too many to protect, too hard to protect; hard enough for Kurenai to fail, to die. Shikamaru shook his head, he wouldn't let that happen.

He would protect Kurenai, make sure she would never have to go again to the despair of losing a loved one. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Kurenai one more time. He pictures himself playing with her baby, lifting it in the air and mumbling something about the will of fire. He sees himself visiting her from time to time, teaching her son plenty of stuff, of shadow-style jutsus, of shogi, of his father's will. He sees Kurenai in the corner, her hands clutching at her breasts and smiling wholeheartedly to them. And when Kurenai walks alone in the church he sees himself running towards her at the back and hugging her tightly. No, maybe that's a bit too much he says to himself, rather surprised by his thoughts. He would just grab her by the arm and tell her that it's all going to be okay, that he would protect her and her child no matter what it takes. He sees her turning around to look at him, and it dawned on him, Kurenai was very beautiful.

His thoughts about Kurenai was broken when he scans in the horizon figures coming towards them (the ESR). Shinobis, the enemy?

"Get ready!" He shouts to one of the chuunins eating a fishball in the road.

Shikamaru tells the chuunin to alert the rest of the Evacuation Shinobi reserve, shinobis were coming from the west, and they were coming in fast. Shikamaru does a few hand seals,  and casts a body flicker jutsu, he disappears in a puff of smoke and appears on top of a flag pole, a distance away from where he was in a matter of seconds. He counts the figures coming in towards them, about twenty to thirty, no, forty ninjas coming from the west. He looks to the east, and figures come out as well, this time about forty to fifty as well judging from his count. There's too many of them, and a two pronged attack would make the civilian march cluster. He had to think up of a plan, he jumps from the flag pole and jumps/hurries to the command tent. He had to think of a plan, and had to do it fast.

Kurenai stands on top of a tree invisible from any eye, making a look out for that band of renegade ninjas to appear once again. Another attack was coming to them, more rogue-ninjas being sent to battle. This time it was a two-pronged attack, somebody must be leading them to be so coordinated and well timed. She picks up a Kunai in one of her pockets, makes it spin on her pointing finger and gets ready for a fight.

She was glad that she had whipped herself into shape after giving birth or she could never have survived the many hardships that they encountered in the evacuation. The struggle for food, medicine and for shelter was hard. Supplies and proper personnel were already running low. Some civilians were dying of hunger, raids and disease in the march. With a baby to feed, Kurenai being helpless would never have survived long. She was no longer wearing her maternity dress, right now she was dressed in her usual uniform as a jounin. Her body before her pregnancy had returned fast from the interventions she had made for herself, her baby, and the people in the march.

Stealing food and medicine from the ESR did not shake her conscience as a jounin. The ESR were too incompetent, and made inappropriate decisions for the civilians every once in a while. They were not likely to give food or medicine for a large majority for fear of running low on supplies, so Kurenai had to make the move on her own. She was after all, from the civilians' area. She knew what the people of Konoha were suffering from in this march. What did the ESR know? Did they ever listen to the pleas of the civilians? If they did, it would only be to their superiors. These genins and jounins had little experience in battle and administration, so the march to the people was hard.

She had calculated the supplies and food distribution properly for her people and her baby. Yes her baby, always her baby first. When the first raid came to their march, Kurenai had joined the fight while leaving the child in the hands of civilian friends she had known in the march.

In the middle of the fight it dawned in on her that something might have happened to the child. Maybe the attackers had somehow gotten inside their camp. She was so worried of her child that she thought she might go mad. She had to finish the fight and rush back to her baby in a hurry. When she found out that the child was okay, she cried in front of her friends (the civilians holding the baby for her.) Many raids after that and her worries although still there, lessened.

This time, the battle was big, the biggest the march had ever encountered, and she would use every jutsu she knew to protect her people…..and her baby.


	3. Chapter 3

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi Forces/Joint Shinobi Alliance during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of. It is being led by Gaara of the Sand.

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Supporting Characters:

Nakoruru = Rogue Shinobi woman hand of the Blue Ninja

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi hand of the Blue Ninja

What are you doing Kurenai?

The Blue Kage hovers in the air, about a hundred feet away from where his shinobis would attack the civilian march. He looks below the rabble before him. They looked like insects as he stood there, majestic, powerful, but unreal.

The perfect stage has been set for his resurrection. With the Shinobi World War 4 erupting, the weak being defenseless and afraid he would become complete. He doesn't have a name. All he knows is that the shinobis from the _Blue Cult_ worship him, and because of this he walks. The more they fear him and believe in him, the more he exists. For several decades he had grown, from a rumbling floating mist in the temple of the Blue Cult, to a talking illusion of a ninja.

He realizes that fear and belief make him alive. He is able to get inside the soul of a person weak enough for his spirit to invade. Controlling every movement and jutsu that person can do to his will. But he is not yet strong enough to invade the mighty jounins of several great villages. He needs to find someone just right for his spirit to control.

That woman would come. He had seen what she was capable of. The illusions (genjutsu) she could conjure was mighty indeed. And she would be the tool for his awakening. But first he needed to draw her out, to weaken her. And what more easy way to do that than to let his followers go full force on the march. She would come, she would let out all her strength, and she would be vulnerable in the end.

The ESR headquarters went out in frenzy. Several ninjas were already panicking, running to suit up for battle gear, asking questions to each other. This didn't look good to Shikamaru. He looks at a corner when two genins bang into each other accidentally. He shakes his head at the disappointment.

The representative of the ESR came to him. He was a well known shinobi to Konoha his former mentor, Iruka-sensei. Iruka was carrying a candle inside the tent, trying to bark orders to get the shinobis in formation outside. Shikamaru remembered him well. Iruka was still wearing the regular uniform of a konoha ninja. Several scrolls and kunais were strapped in his arms, indicating that he was ready for contact. Iruka was a capable combat shinobi, perhaps the entire squad of ESR with his guidance is able to win against the numbers of the enemy.

"There is like a hundred of us, and eighty of them. We may have the advantage here, but we should be extra-careful against these rogue-nins. Most of our units are composed of kids, with very little-to no actual experience in combat." Shikamaru told Iruka. He then asked him if any information was available about these rogue-ninjas.

Iruka face looked troubled "No, I will not use the kids in this fight. These rogue-ninjas are too dangerous for them, we've seen them fight, and they are mostly chuunin to jounin type fighters!" He replies to shikamaru as he shakes his head in disapproval.

"They are ninjas, soldiers all the same. If the enemy is what you say they are, then the more we need of these kids for a fight." Shikamaru had noticed the growing concern in Iruka and had to sound convincing, else a fight would erupt.

"No!" Iruka swinged his left arm in a disapproving fashion to Shikamaru, his voice was already getting loud."I will not have you send them on a suicide mission against these foes. We divide our forces to fight them. The kids stay inside the march, to protect the civilians, while the older chuunins go to battle."

Shikamaru noticed that arguing with this man is impossible. He had to change his plans, since there was a huge possibility that Iruka would not cooperate with him. He has always remembered his former mentor to be too soft. Maybe this was one of the reasons why Iruka was not sent to the front lines in the Joint Shinobi Alliance. He clinches his hands into a fist secretly. This was not fair. They had just lost their advantage in numbers because of Iruka's decision. Then again, maybe that wasn't too bad. The civilians did need protection.

Shikamaru closes his eyes and positions himself into his thinking position. All thoughts are gone from his mind because of this. His growing concern to the civilians became an understanding, his limited time to set-up traps became enough through rational and mathematical thought, his concern for Kurenai forgotten.

Iruka looks at him and recognizes his pose, he stands there looking at Shikamaru, waiting for his instructions.

Shikamaru opens his eyes, then he looks at Iruka-sensei. "I have a plan, and you will have to trust me on this one."

Iruka nods back at him in approval.

O = O

Nakoruru leads the forces in the west. Thirty-two rogue ninjas are under her command, enough to harass the civilian march of Konoha. She is one of the leaders of the ninjas of the Blue Cult. She was the daughter of the founder of their village.

Her people were banished from the Hidden Village of the Mist for worshipping an idol known as the Blue Kage whom her delusional father considers as the true Kage of the Hidden Village of the Mist. He was not real, that was what she had always believed; despite all this she had followed the instructions of his father to keep on praying to the idol. Many castaway shinobis did this as well. The Blue Kage is not real, that's what she always said inside her mind, but still she kept praying. Until one day, a blue cloud appeared on their temple stating himself as their god and Mizukage. Several decades occurred, when Nakoruru grew up to be a beautiful Kunoichi, so did the Blue Mizukage. And because of these events, her belief changed. She knew that the Blue Kage was real, and it was only a matter of time when he would be awakened. From the fears of these many people, the Blue Kage, being an ideal, and a god who feeds on the belief of others would awaken.

She was now a zealot, hiding her long black hair and her beautiful face in a blue cape, the symbol of her god. She stood five feet and ten inches tall, and her long hair was usually tied in a knot to complement the heart shape of her head. Her blue eyes were well defined and feminine enough for any suitor to distinguish. She painted her lips light enough for fashion. But all these features, from her wonderful face to her wonderful body were hidden beneath that blue cape, to define her loyalty to the Blue Kage, her one and only love. (_If you want to get a picture on what she looks like, I want you all to know that I have based her character features on Miyuki from You're Under Arrest)_

She carries a big scythe on her back, and the rogue-ninjas accompanying her run have different definitions. She knew them all, knew her troops names and what they were capable of. And because of this she lines the capable ones in the front. Not as a vanguard.

Nakoruru and her troops are running towards the march. She, being ten feet ahead of the run suddenly stops, and then extends her left arm to signal for a halt. Her troops obey, twelve rogue-ninjas being the vanguard stop and form a line a few feet behind her.

"Mistress, we're not yet in range." A rogue ninja wearing a torn top hat and violet colored rags from the vanguard regard her.

"I know." Nakoruru doesn't look back to stare at her troop. Instead she looks forward, into the grassy plains 1 kilometer away from where their target was. There stood a man, a Konoha ninja wearing the usual Konoha outfit. He was about 10 years younger than her, but the shinobi had a determined look on his face. His hands maintained a weird hand seal, indicating the fact that he was planning something.

Nakoruru makes a quick smirk to the man. "Hmm…they send a single shinobi to fight thirty three of us? He must be very powerful, or stupid to go into a one man army." Nakoruru spins her scythe and slams it on the ground, she raises her hand. "Run him through!" She then points to Shikamaru and makes a serious loli-gesture.

With her orders, the rogue-ninjas break into action. Forming hand seals, readying their kunais, summoning bows, javelins and swords, and several animal types as mount.

One of the rogue ninjas, a sadistic looking mummy with only one eye not covered by bandages, imbues himself with a jutsu that increases his speed. He wants to be the first one in for a kill in this raid.

O = O

Shikamaru positions himself for the fight about to happen. He had already told Iruka-sensei his plan, and was very glad that Iruka had agreed to it. The fighting force would be divided. The rest of the ESR forces were to fight the rogue-ninjas attacking from the east, while he, on the other hand would solo forty (thirty-three) ninjas on his own from the west.

He had asked his former mentor to trust him as a shinobi tactician capable of turning the tides of battle by himself. Iruka never doubted him for a moment. Shikamaru knew he was capable enough in battle with the right tactics in mind.

He had used his shadow-jutsu to create a multitude of shadowy-threads and place as many traps as he can in the area he predicted he and the rogue-ninjas would clash. There he would meet them to his advantage, and his own grounds. His hand seal is still set, making him look like a statue in the middle of the grassy plains of their battlefield.

He waits for the rogue-ninjas to attack, and set his trap into motion. First he needed to bait them close enough so that the enemy would have no more time or distance to retreat when his traps are released. Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten, the rogue ninjas poured to him with abandon.

"Come to my territory you bastards." Shikamaru mumbles quietly as he poses himself in his hand seal.

The first one to get close to him was a masked rogue-ninja riding a giant iguana as his summon. The rogue-nin had jumped close enough for Shikamaru to be in danger. Shikamaru wills one of his shadowy threads to set a trap into motion, activating an exploding tag in the grass. The ground explodes into a heap of smoke, grass and dirt, hitting the iguana squarely on its chest sending it and its rider both tumbling back.

More rogue-ninjas come to him, this time four of them carrying swords and shurikens. He sets the traps close to them in motion. One of the rogue-ninjas carrying a katana howls a cry of pain as fire suddenly sprouts from the ground, engulfing him in a hot embrace. He runs around and even manages to activate an exploding tag in a corner, blowing his leg to pieces and knocking back several rogue- shinobis close to him.

A rogue-ninja carrying a weird club stops and kneels down in agony as he steps on a bear trap set by Shikamaru, the rogue drops his club and tries to crawl himself into a retreat.

Shikamaru sees another enemy fall down into a pit of spikes, while the companion by his side gets blown away by another exploding tag being activated by the shadow threads. Shikamaru is still pausing with his hand seal, focusing on the enemies coming at him, determined to win against this much.

The area had become a smoke-filled macabre as more rogue-ninjas fell to Shikamaru's traps. Some howled in pain from stepping on bear traps, some knocked back by several exploding tags laid out. Some managed to dodge or block the weaker traps, like a single shuriken being wired, or an obvious trap not properly covered from the lack of time Shikamaru had.

One rogue ninja, wearing nothing but bearskin manages to throw a shuriken at Shikamaru. He decides to use one of his shadow tentacles to block it, but gasps in surprise as the single shuriken puffs into a shower of more shurikens.

"A shuriken kage-bunshin!" Shikamaru mumbles. His shadow tentacle manages to bat out several of the thrown weapon. But the shuriken clones were too many for his shadown tentacle to block. About nine to ten shurikens hit him in the shoulders and legs, some even manage to scratch him in the face. But their damage wasn't critical or hard enough for Shikamaru to stop pose (his hand seal pose).

He didn't have enough time to cringe in agony as a sadistic looking shinobi wearing a purple top hat and purple rags charge at him. The shinobi with the top hat throws a few kunais. He bats them out with a shadow tentacle, and when the rogue-shinobi forms several hand seals for a jutsu Shikamaru gets ready for a counter.

The rogue-ninja on purple rags finishes his hand seal and blows a water bullet straight towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru blocks it with another shadow tentacle, sending forth a huge splashing sound in the battlefield, but leaves himself open against several thrown weapons in his corner. A shuriken burrows deep in his right hip, but Shikamaru still manages to maintain his hand seal position. Two more hit him in the left shoulder and leg, and still he maintains the pose.

One rogue-shinobi on a demon mask and a sword made of water manages to get close to him, but gets whipped away by one of Shikamaru's shadow tentacles. The rogue on the demon mask flies back as a shadow tentacle lashes at him on the stomach, the blow was hard enough to make the rogue spit blood and send him flying.

Shikamaru is unable to gloat on that little victory as a water bullet hits him squarely on his elbows, rocking him back, but not breaking his pose. The rogue-shinobi on the purple top hat blows another water bullet, Shikamaru blocks it again with a shadow tentacle. But more shurikens and kunais come at him from the side, digging deep into his skin.

He tries his best to maintain his pose, to maintain the hand seal that controls his shadow tentacles and threads. He hadn't expected the enemy to be this good and resourceful. They were now surrounding him, and despite exploding tags still activating, his traps were running out. He was going to lose, he was going to die here, in this grassy plain of a battlefield. He will no longer be able to grow up and see the wonders of a middle adult. He will no longer be able to play shogi. He will no longer be able to see Kurenai, to protect her and her baby, to see her smiling, to make her happy.

"No, focus on the battle ahead of you Shikamaru. It's not over yet!" He mumbles to himself.

Rogue shinobis had gotten close to his left and right. They were trying to make a two-pronged attack. One of the shinobi had a sadistic look on its face, carrying a blue colored katana and his tongue lolling out of his face.

Shikamaru summons two of his shadow tentacles on both his left and right to impale the rogue-ninjas attacking him. He manages to impale one to his left on the shoulder; while on his right, the tongue lolling shinobi carrying a blue colored katana is able to evade the shadow tentacle attack.

Shikamaru mutters a curse, but is not able to finish it when another water bullet from the purple ragged rogue hits him squarely in the front. He shrugs for a moment, and tries his best to maintain his hand seal pose.

He readies for another block with his shadow tentacles, more than a dozen rogue ninjas were already encircling him, carrying weird weapons from kunais to chains. He looks from his right to left to parry or block any attack coming at him.

His concentration is broken when a clawed-hand suddenly erupts underneath the ground where he stood. The metallic claws dig in to his right leg, and Shikamaru cringes in pain. He tries to stab the underground assailant with a shadow tentacle but is not able to finish the attack when another water bullet hits him in the front.

This time Shikamaru's hand seal pose was broken. The water bullet sends him tumbling back to the grassy dirt. He tries to stand up, bruised and wet from the water bullets, kunais and shurikens sticking out from every corner of his body, bleeding from several scratches made by edged weapons. The edge of a scythe impales his hand to the ground. He cries out in agony and looks at his assailant, a blue robed woman.

"Game over punk!" Nakoruru's scowling face bites deep into his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

Kunoichi = A female shinobi/ a female ninja.

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Supporting Characters:

Nakoruru = Rogue Shinobi woman hand of the Blue Ninja. She wears blue robes and carries a huge scythe as a weapon. Her character image is explained in episode three and is based on Miyuki Kobayakawa in "You're Under Arrest"

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi hand of the Blue Ninja

What are you doing Kurenai?

Shikamaru wills every bit of power that he has for the ninjutsu. The "Shadow Neck Binding Technique" uses a technique developed from the Nara clan's hidden Shadow Imitation Technique with combat in mind. It is possible to inflict direct damage to the enemy by transforming and moving shadows endowed with physical power. A black hand creeps slowly towards the neck of his assailant. At first it seems like a black snake, creeping slowly from Nakoruru's feet to her slender legs, and circles above her waist and back, then slithers up towards her neck.

Nakoruru finds her strength insufficient in combating the shadow jutsu Shikamaru had placed upon her. She tries to raise her scythe for a strike, but is unable to do so. "What have you done to me?" Nakoruru shouts at Shikamaru angrily as her scythe keeps sticking to his (Shika's) left hand.

Shikamaru doesn't answer. He conserves all his strength and chakra to finish his ninjutsu. He had used the time he had when the kunoichi was disabled to assess the battlefield. Including the scythe wielding kunoichi, there were ten able ninjas remaining. The other rogue-ninjas were either retreating or dying slowly from the wounds they had received by his traps.

He had weighed all possibilities in battling these ten rogues remaining, and the odds did not seem to go his favor. Shikamaru was losing chakra and strength fast. Come to think of it, he doesn't even know if he has enough to finish his "Shadow Neck Bind Technique".

He concentrates harder in finishing the jutsu. But the pain from the scythe sticking in his left hand overwhelms him, and Shikamaru loses all control that he has on his neck-binding technique. The shadowy hand that snakes over Nakoruru retreats for the shadows in the floor, disappearing in a snake like fashion.

Nakoruru, feels her prey weakening, tries to remove the scythe impaling Shikamaru's left hand to the ground, but is unable to do so. For all Shikamaru's strength, he is able to maintain and lock Nakoruru in a "Shadow Binding/Imitation Technique", a ninjutsu from the Nara clan that allows the user to extend their shadow on any surface (even water) and as far as they want as long as there is a sufficient area. Once it comes into contact with a target's shadow, the two merge and the target is forced to imitate the user's movements.

"Kill him now you guys!" Shikamaru hears Nakoruru shout a command towards her fellow rogue-ninjas.

Shikamaru looks at a rogue-ninja wearing blue robes finish a few hand-seals, and to his horror, summon a giant man sized shuriken. The blue robed shinobi poses for a throw, gathering all its strength to throw the giant shuriken at Shikamaru.

"Stop it, you'll hit your ally as well!" Shikamaru shouts wildly to the rogue-shinobi. Nakoruru, despite being safe from the "shadow neck binding jutsu" was still locked within Shikamaru's "Shadow Imitation/Binding Technique".

He looks at the pretty face of the kunoichi whose shadow and body is locked with his. For a moment, he considers using her as a shield to block the giant shuriken; but even if he wanted to do that, he couldn't. Shikamaru was stuck to the ground and couldn't move because of the scythe impaling his left hand to the grassy dirt.

The blue robed shinobi throws the giant shuriken towards him, Shikamaru looks at the spinning piece of metal with dread. "There's no escape now" Nakoruru scowls.

Shikamaru moves his arms up, making Nakoruru copy his movements due to the "Shadow Imitation/Binding Technique". Nakoruru who holds the scythe impaling his left hand to the ground is forced to remove the weapon from the copying of Shikamaru's motion.

Blood flies out from his hand as the scythe is removed. The pain seemed to overwhelm Shikamaru to a point where he lost the control of his "shadow bind" towards Nakoruru. But there was no time to resist the pain, Shikmaru summoned the strength of his legs to jump back, just enough distance to dodge the giant spinning shuriken headed towards him.

Nakoruru feels the release of the shadow binding jutsu on her body. She realizes that she is free from the restrictions of Shikamaru's technique, and is now able to move on her own will. She raises her scythe back, and swings it in a horizontal slash towards Shikamaru who was quite busy dodging the giant spinning shuriken. She hits him on the torso, making a cut so deep that Shikamaru's jounin uniform was sliced in half.

Shikamaru rolls back from the sudden powerful attack of the kunoichi. He finishes his roll, picks up a kunai from his pockets, and poses defensively for battle.

His mind begins to think of new strategies in defeating the rogue-ninjas. After making the slice, the kunoichi had posed her body in a relaxing taunt, dangling the scythe between her shoulders and giving Shikamaru a faint smile. That was an advantage to Shikamaru, the taunt gave him enough time to breathe and regenerate his chakra for another round. He closes his eyes and makes a deep breath to relax, and tells himself to concentrate and focus harder in the fight.

Then suddenly his whole world goes black and white, his body shakes convulsively as blood begins to spurt wildly from his torso. The scythe cut had penetrated both his armor and muscles, leaving a deep horizontal gash on the torso. He wills all of his body to stand up and continue the fight, but all those once strong legs could do was kneel down and shake uncontrollably. He thinks up of tactics, of strategies to fight like this, but the pain overwhelms him, and all he could think about was death, death and Kurenai.

Kurenai, those were his last thoughts. Come to think of it, he was seeing Kurenai's back right now, in front of him, carrying a kunai and posed in defense. "Kurenai…" Shikamaru's weak voice grumbles, then his face falls down to the grass.

O-O

Kurenai had weighed the odds in which battle she would be participating at. Would she accompany the ESR shinobi group fighting in the east, or would she help the male ninja in the west who was confident enough to fight forty rogue-ninjas on his own.

The decision took her a few seconds to make, the shinobi from the west was either too strong, or too stupid to go solo in a battle. Fearing the latter, she made her way west and tried to help the shinobi soloing the rogues. If the western flank falls, then the enemy might get inside the evacuation camp, and Kurenai couldn't risk something a slaughter happening because the ESR was dumb enough to send one shinobi against forty experienced rogues.

Moving closer to the western fight, she was surprised to realize that it was actually Shikamaru soloing the fight against the rogues. Why was he here? Was he here for me? Those were the first thoughts that came out of Kurenai's mind. But before thinking deeper about Shikamaru's relation in being here, Kurenai shrugged all the ideas away.

As a genjutsu user, she needed to clear her mind of most heavy thoughts. From the death of Asuma, the worries of her child, to the surprise of seeing Shikamaru here; all burdens in her heart and mind for the sake of her genjutsu was removed. She grips her kunai tightly and positions herself defensively in front of Shikamaru, protecting the poor lad from further attacks of these rogues.

No time to think of a strategy, she needed to finish this battle fast. Shikamaru seemed to have lost a lot of blood from the battle, and was dropped unconscious on the grass dying. She manages a small glance to Shikamaru, to see if he is okay. The lad seemed to be sleeping soundly like a baby, muttering a few words of "Kurenai" that she couldn't hear.

"She's here! Master! The woman is here!" Kurenai hears a rogue-kunoichi wearing blue robes scream out in ecstasy. She was carrying a huge scythe dripping with blood which Kurenai suspected belonged to Shikamaru. The blue robed rogue-kunoichi spins her scythe and slams the butt of the weapon to the ground, making a loud boom sound as it happens.

"Attack!" Nakoruru orders the ten remaining rogue ninjas to do so.

The ten ninjas attack in unison, some forming hand-seals. Kurenai sees a rogue-ninja wearing a purple top hat fire a water bullet at her. She dodges the water bullet, and engages five rogue-shinobis all at once.

The rogue-ninjas try to swing their weapons towards her, but soon find themselves wrapped up in the roots of a huge Sakura tree that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. To their eyes, Kurenai was nowhere to be seen. But in reality, Kurenai was right beside them, paralyzing them with her genjutsu/illusion, and slicing their throats with a blade.

The purple colored rogue-ninja watched in horror as his comrades die one by one from Kurenai's attack. It wasn't that much of a battle, Kurenai was dashing back and forth slicing the throats of her victims here and there with ease.

Kurenai's prey did not seem to bother blocking or evading the coup-de-grace, all they seemed to do was struggle aimlessly to a supposed to be invisible assailant that wasn't really there, taking no attention to the fact that their throats were already sliced open by Kurenai.

Dangerous combat illusions are easily destroyed by a simple trick when in a group: simply touching and disturbing a victim's chakra flow literally is able to release a person from a genjustu. But even if Kurenai's target were aware of this strategy, Kurenai's illusions were too sudden for them to react to.

"It's not real, it's all just an illusion!" Nakoruru screams.

"Yes, that's true! It's not real, they are all merely illusions. We can combat her if we just ignore them all." The rogue with a purple hat laughed. But his laugh was short lived, when all of a sudden red butterflies start appearing out of thin air. He looks for Nakoruru, their spiritual leader, but she is no longer there, just darkness and the red butterflies. He tries to bat them away. "Get away from me!" He screams.

Several of the red butterflies seemed to land on his body, nibbling at his flesh slowly. The rogue with the purple hat's face turns into panic as he realizes that he is already trapped in the illusion made for him. He performs a few hand seals and fires a water bullet in the darkness.

Kurenai watched the water bullet fly and hit nothing but air on its path. She didn't need to evade the missile because she was already behind the rogue on purple when that happened. She swings her kunai and slices the tendons of the rogue's right leg, maiming him. The rogue on purple drops to the ground; no longer batting any invisible butteflies due to her genjutsu being broken from the pain. But the damage was done, and the rogue on purple was now helpless. Kurenai finishes the job by slicing his throat.

The rogue on purple manages to mumble a "please" word, before drowning on his own blood. Kurenai then points her kunai towards the only enemy left standing, the rogue-kunoichi on blue robes.

"It is over." Kurenai's face grow serious, as she looks at her prey eye to eye.

"Come on! I'm not afraid of your petty illusions!" Nakoruru scowls back at Kurenai. She then raises her scythe and charges for Kurenai.

Nakoruru makes a horizontal swing, but Kurenai ducks and plants a kunai on her left foot which she tried to kick her with. She howls in pain as the kunai bites in deep at her left knee, and Kurenai picks up another kunai from her pockets.

Nakoruru performs a hand seal with her left hand, and blows a water bullet straight ahead. Kurenai dodges the missile attack, and charges ahead. The blue-robed-kunoichi makes a downward slash, but Kurenai steps back and throws a kunai almost point blank towards her target, hitting Nakoruru squarely in the right armpit.

Nakoruru bits her lip from the pain, she summons more strength to make another swing with the scythe but Kurenai is able to attack first by fast throwing another kunai to her right bicep. The thrown kunai bites deeply into her muscle, making her drop the scythe to the ground, dust clears out in the grassy dirt to emphasize how heavy the scythe was. She pants heavily as three kunais stick into her body, one on her left foot, one on the right armpit and one on the right bicep.

"I don't need to use genjutsu against amateurs like you." Kurenai serious face bites deep into her prey's eyes.

Since her right arm was now useless. Nakoruru uses her left for a hand seal. Summoning a "water geyser" to erupt to where Kurenai was standing at.

Kurenai notices the ground rumble and is able to evade the desperate attack in the nick of time by rolling forward towards Nakoruru. She finishes her tumble with a hard slash using her kunai, Nakoruru tries to block the attack with her left hand and soon finds three of her bloody fingers flying. Kurenai finishes her off by grabbing her right arm and slamming her to the ground with a judo move.

Kurenai looks at her surroundings for any enemies remaining, and when the coast was clear enough, she puts her weapons back on her secret pockets and tends to the dying Shikamaru.


	5. Chapter 5

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

Kunoichi = A female shinobi/ a female ninja.

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of.

Supporting Characters:

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi hand of the Blue Ninja

What are you doing Kurenai?

She is here, the woman is here. The words echoed deep into the very essence of the Blue Kage. The ninja like apparition floats lightly in the air, for a moment he feels the grand ecstasy of that dreaded feeling from his followers. A feeling of hopelessness, fear and despair; the woman's (Kurenai's) genjutsu had done its job splendidly, and the emotions it extracted from its prey made the Blue Kage's body tingle with life and power. He could feel the taste of those feelings, a sweetness more pure than the whitest sugar in the land.

The Blue Kage clenches his fist as a gust of wind blew against the clouds that he hang on to. "And now the time has come for me to be born!" He raises his ands higher into the sun, his eyes maddening with glee.

O-O

They were inside a tent in the middle of the civilian throng from the evacuation. It was already midnight, and the only light that seemed to open up to them was from a small lamp, standing at a footstool close to Kurenai's bed where Shikamaru lay. The place was dark, tacky and small, with several blankets and pillows rolled up in every corner. A baby's crib is seen beside the bed, and Kurenai's baby lies sleeping quietly in it. The night was not quiet however, for the sounds of victory had been ringing on the bells outside. The ESR seemed to be shortly celebrating their costly but great victory against their attackers from the east battle. Kurenai didn't want to accompany them, she had never thought of the ESR as competent enough to handle a situation like this. They were just lucky she and Shikamaru was there to fend off the attackers, else there would be no victory celebration right now.

Kurenai's companions, an old granny and her wet-nurse had already left her and Shikamaru alone on the tent after helping her tend to his wounds. She sits quietly in a blue painted wooden chair. She rests her hands in her legs and eyes Shikmaru sleeping on the bed. She still did not know yet why he had come here, although there were theories she made about Shikamaru's presence in the evacuation, they were not considered conclusive.

Her first theory (her only theory) was that Shikamaru came to the evacuation because of her. Was he scared about hers and the well being of the baby so much that he risked being late in the rendezvous at the Joint Shinobi Alliance, only to find out if they were okay? She had once thought of Shikamaru considering her and the baby special. But when she was about to lay on her bed and sleep, or attend to the needs of her baby it was Asuma whom her mind wandered off to, not Shikamaru: the boy ninja whom she hardly gave any thoughts to at a time when he was still a genin.

She thinks of herself, that maybe she was too selfish that she only cried and cared heartily for the dead father of her baby. Did she wander out her soul inside a shell of sorrow that nobody could see because she did not want that happening? For her secrets to have gone to heaven with Asuma, her dead lover, had she thought about finding nobody else to share them again? What about to laugh and watch the moonlight while being drunk with your love? Then she stops her thoughts and takes a look at Shikamaru, he was already old enough to drink. She smiles a bit and thinks back about her savior.

Kurenai tries to stroke Shikamaru's cheek, but is stopped abruptly when Shikamaru opens his eyes and makes a stifled groan.

"You're awake." Kurenai retreats her hand and smiles at him.

"Kurenai?" Shikamaru's face turns from being lethargic into that of somebody surprised. He flexes a little bit from the pain he suddenly feels on his shoulders. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

Kurenai doesn't answer him just yet instead she stands up, turns around and picks her baby from the crib who started to cry from Shikamaru's sudden outburst. "The proper question would be, are YOU okay Shikamaru-kun?" Kurenai turns around and faces Shikamaru again.

Shikamaru looks down on his wounded ribs as if in shame of his incompetence, then gains his composure again and stares at Kurenai eye to eye. "I'm actually okay, I could have handled those guys on my own. Did they do anything to you? Are you okay Kurenai?" Feeling a bit bravado, he says his words in a rising tone.

Then he tries to stand up, but is unable to do so. Kurenai's face grows into a worry, and for a moment it looked as if she might help him up. But she was too busy attending her baby, besides, Shikamaru never did stand up, so there was no need to help him.

Shikamaru changes to a sitting position instead, grunting and straining heavily from every twist and turn. "You shouldn't be fighting Kurenai, you just recently gave birth six months ago, you're still not in top shape yet."

Kurenai's baby is still crying, and she plays with him (the baby) first before replying to Shikamaru "Did you risk being late in the rendezvous at the Joint Shinobi Alliance, and come here all this way just to tell me that?" She doesn't look at him in the eye as she says those words. Inside her mind she thought; so her theory was right. Shikamaru had come here to the ESR to find out if she was okay.

"I…." Shikamaru stops for a moment and gulps guiltily "I needed to know if you were okay. I needed to clear all thoughts about you coming into harm, before participating in the Fourth Division."

Kurenai's thoughts begin to wander, this time about Shikamaru. Shikamaru the boy ninja; that was what she used to think of him before. Her point of view on the Nara ninja had changed throughout time. The death of Asuma gave Kurenai sorrow deep enough to lose all her interest as a kunoichi in Konoha. She had never thought of Shikamaru that much when the boy was still a chuunin. Her first impression of him was somebody intelligent and calculating enough to one day grow up and be a powerful Nara official. But those thoughts usually ended there, and that was just it. Those were the only thoughts she once had with Shikamaru, Shikamaru the boy, the brilliant and intelligent lad who was full of promises. She had never thought of Shikamaru as a man until now.

Shikamaru had become a man, full grown, strong, responsible and brave, somebody who had inherited the will of fire to protect the citizens of the Hidden Leaf. Kurenai eyes his face, rugged and worn from the battle that he had just survived. His arms and legs (Shikamaru is half naked because Kurenai and her companions had to remove his clothes to wash his wounds) had become bigger and stronger from the shinobi training he's had.

Then she shifts her gaze to the baby for a moment, in order for her not to look too obvious. "I appreciate your concern." She smiles while eyeing her baby, and makes a nodding gesture.

She waits for him to answer back, but Shikamaru seemed to be at a loss for words, a few seconds pass and the two of them are left in the silence of the tent, with no sound but the low wail and cry of the baby and the buzzing of the lantern bugs in the lamp to be heard.

"It was good seeing you again Shikamaru-kun." She takes the initiative but doesn't look at him eye to eye as she says those words.

Shikamaru, who seemed to be in deep thought while looking at his wounds, breaks out of his trance and looks at Kurenai and the baby. "You shouldn't be fighting."

"I know, but I want to. I want to be strong to protect the people that I love Shikamaru. I want to be strong fast." Kurenai says these words slowly, and an eternity seems to pass for every pause she makes with her sentence.

"But you…" Shikamaru stops his reply it seems that he doesn't want to insult Kurenai as being a weak willed woman. For a moment he would have liked to say that Kurenai needed to rest first, but he begins to lose words and thought, even as an intelligent Nara ninja, he had no reply for Kurenai. "Why I am really here, was just to find out if you were okay. I care for you and the baby's well being, I care for Asuma and the favor that he asked of me. Please, you shouldn't over exert yourself as of now. I will protect you and the baby, so you need not worry."

Kurenai plays with her baby some more, and as of now he (the baby) seems to be calming down. "I understand Shikamaru, that Asuma's death weighed heavily on you. But don't punish yourself like this. We both need to get over his death." She looks at him in the eye, as she replies.

Shikamaru stares at her with confidence "I made a promise Miss Yuhi, I will protect you and the baby, and I will never change that." He then makes a serious gesture after finishing his words.

Kurenai smiles at him. Those words he had just said gave her a sense of comfort and calm, perhaps something more than that. When Shikamaru said that he would protect her and the baby no matter what, it gave her a feeling of hope. For a moment she felt cozy inside the hot environment of their small tent, and for a moment she felt as if she did not want Shikamaru to rendezvous with the Joint Shinobi Alliance. For a moment she wanted Shikamaru to be there, for the two of them to keep on talking for hours, for him to carry the baby on his arms and play with it, to help her clean the stuff on her tent. For a moment she did not want the night to end. Then her thoughts of Shikamaru are interrupted with the baby crying once again. They are both surprised and remove eye contact as fast as they could.

"Oooh….aren't you a hungry one." Kurenai exposes her breast to feed the baby, Shikamaru suddenly feels awkward as she sees her naked and turns his head around. She notices him and turns around with her baby sucking her breasts as well. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought…"

"Umm….No it's okay miss Yuhi, you should attend to him." Shikamaru stops her words while still looking back.

A few seconds of silence, Shikamaru is looking down at his feet trying to avoid the view, while Kurenai is busy attending to her baby.

"She seems to be calming down now." Shikamaru takes the initiative and mumbles anything he observes to break the long silence.

Kurenai notices his comical voice and giggles softly. "It's nice….isn't it?" She says those words as her back faces Shikamaru.

"Yes it is." Shikamaru suddenly looks to the roof and smiles. Then he puts his hands at the back of his head and lies down on the bed. "Have you seen my cigarette?" He changes to a sitting position once again, using his arms as leverage this time.

"They are beside the lantern, but if you want to smoke, I suggest you do it outside. It's not very good for the baby if you smoke here." Kurenai turns every now and then as she carries her baby.

A half naked Shikamaru walks outside the tent. He maintains enough distance from Kurenai and the baby, and begins to light his cigarette up. He starts puffing some smoke and looks at the thousands of tents outside that are bustling with activity.

"When will you be returning to the rendezvous?" Kurenai still inside the tent and feeding the baby asks him.

"As soon as possible." Shikamaru blows white smoke from his mouth, and looks at Kurenai. "Will you be okay when I go?" He looks at her and the baby, this time no longer ashamed despite Kurenai's body being exposed, a smile creeps on his lips.

Kurenai stares at him eye to eye and smiles. She nods and smiles back at him.

She puts the baby on the crib, and Shikamaru is left with nothing else to do except stare at her doing her chores. Her body had returned to her pre-pregnant state, and Kurenai's curves and beauty were becoming more and more obvious to Shikamaru. She was wearing her usual outfit which consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wears the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals.

This time, his view of her was accompanied with a sense of maturity and wisdom, something Shikamaru hoped one day he would achieve. This here, in front of his eyes was a woman at the best of her adulthood. The feeling suddenly overwhelms Shikamaru, about this woman so strong and responsible to move on despite the hardships of losing a husband and a profession. To overcome the trials set aside by faith in her life. It was the feeling of admiration for her being a role model to her elements (inferiors). The feeling of love for his promise with Asuma, and the important part she played in Shikamaru and Asuma's life. And of the feeling of desire, for right now, in his eyes Kurenai had become very attractive to him. Shikamaru unconsciously eyes her from the lightness of her feet, the shapely legs she carried, Kurenai's figure which had now returned to the curvy one she had when she was a jonin not pregnant, to the suddenly lovely face that she wore.

There used to be a time when Shikamaru would think about women. There was that one incident where he and Temari from the Sand had developed a closeness which he would sometimes consider as more than camaraderie. But what he felt from Kurenai right now was entirely different, it was a mixed feeling, of admiration, of worry, love and of desire.

"You should stop smoking and get some rest soon." Kurenai mentions to him after putting the baby to sleep.

And then in a sudden flash, a loud booming sound is heard, more the whooshing of the wind coming close to them in lightning fashion "Nobody is getting some rest tonight!" The Blue Kage stands beside Kurenai and her baby, his arms folded in his chest as his back faces Kurenai. Kurenai lets out a scream from the sudden appearance of the mighty apparition. She could feel the chakra ebbing in every essence of the form standing before them.

Shikamaru grinds his teeth and is forced to bite his cigarette in half. The baby begins to wail once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

Kunoichi = A female shinobi/ a female ninja.

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of.

Reign of Yagura = A time in the Hidden Village of the Mist where Yagura was the Mizukage, it is a time of brutality and bloodshed, where ninjas from the village are taught to kill at the earliest of age.

Supporting Characters:

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi hand of the Blue Ninja

What are you doing Kurenai?

Despite the fatigue and pain he feels whenever he moves a muscle Shikamaru performs a hand-seal to finish his "shadow-binding technique". His shadow quickly elongates and merges with the shadow of the Blue Kage. The cigarettes that he smoked before drop on the floor, forgotten and dampening.

"I've got you!" Shikamaru stated. "You cannot move your body now."

He breathes a sigh of relief, after his shadow binding jutsu hits the target perfectly. But his victory is shortly celebrated as the Blue Kage begins to move as if he was never really there.

"Fool! Your jutsu won't work on me!" The Blue Kage then tries to sieze Kurenai by the hand, but she tumbles away from his grasp.

"What are you?" Shikamaru grunts in pain as his bruises begin to ache heavily.

"I am the deity of these rogue-ninjas you have eradicated. A being not of this world, the living original." The Blue Kage stands still, as he eyes Kurenai and nothing but her. "You think your puny shinobi reserve has won, well the worst is yet to come as the main force arrives tonight!"

Kurenai throws a shuriken to the Blue Kage, but it passes through his ethereal body. She thought; why did this have to happen now? Everything was perfect until he came. The emptiness within her after losing Asuma had begun to fill once again, she was about to be cured of the darkness plaguing her heart, about to be whole again, until the Blue Kage appeared.

"What are you?" She scowls, holding her kunai and posed for a dash. Outside the tent she could hear the sounds of the alarm bell ringing, and the ESR elements screaming _"We're under attack, to your stations."_

"I am an elemental, and the most powerful of the originals. I am the pain, and am formed with nothing but the emotions considered negative by the people. The Pain Elemental" He raises his hand in ecstasy confident of his position and power beneath Shikamaru and Kurenai. "Your weapons are useless against me, I am the embodiment of all that is painful, and I have come for you woman!" He then points a finger to the baby crying heavily on the crib as if to touch it.

"No don't!" Kurenai and Shikamaru cried out in unison.

"I may not be real, but I can merge with the soul of any individual that I want. You wouldn't want this poor child to die from fear would you?" The Blue Kage's eyes burn deeply into Kurenai's. Beneath his blue mask it was evident that he was smiling.

"Please, do not." Kurenai kneels to the ground. Tears begin to fall down her cheeks. Everything had happened so fast and furious that she couldn't quite stomach all the events with her emotions. But when the thoughts about her baby coming to harm flooded to mind, she began to feel a sense of dread and hopelessness that all thoughts about her dreams to become a shinobi once again, of her love for Konoha, of Shikamaru and the awkward but comforting feeling she felt whenever he was near, of her memories with Asuma, all of those thoughts vanished in an instant. Her knees became wobbly and weak; every inch of her skin begins shivering as if she was cold and naked in ice.

"Then become one with me." The Blue Kage offers his hand to the dumbfounded mother before him. "Be my vessel woman, and I will stay away from this place when I am reborn!"

"Don't listen to him!" Shikamaru shouts. But Kurenai doesn't hear him, all she could think about right now was the baby; the product of her and Asuma's love, the light and the future of her life. Kurenai extends her hand to meet with that of the Blue Kage's.

"Kurenai!" Shikamaru screams again as the Blue Kage and Kurenai's hand meet. He notices and concludes the fact that she can no longer hear his voice.

Shikamaru mutters a curse, and rolls forward to do the only thing he could. He scoops the baby from the crib on his arms, and heads for the exit. The baby starts to cry more as Shikamaru does his maneuver in a quick and haggard fashion. He runs away as fast as he can, outside the tent, and into the throng of civilians running away in panic from the battle occurring between the ESR and the rogues in the heart of the mob.

She gathers up chakra on his feet and begins to run on top of a tree with the crying baby on his arms. When he gets on top, he rests for a bit and takes a look at the panic occurring below.

Fights were everywhere on the evacuation as civilians begin to panic and stampede their way to safety. East, west, south, north, Shikamaru could see shinobis and rogues fighting, throwing shurikens and kunais at each other, fencing and dragging wounded comrades away.

He concludes that he needed to get to Kurenai back fast, but first the baby needed to come to safety. He couldn't just tie the baby on a tree, or leave it unattended in a secret hideout, that was too risky of an act. So he ripped up some clothes he found on a dead civilian and ties the baby in a piggy back fashion at his rear.

A blinding flash is suddenly seen on the tent where Kurenai and the Blue Kage were at, breaking Shikamaru from all of his thoughts. He then sneaks his way into the holocaust that seems to be erupting between the civilians, the ESR and the rogue-ninjas. Shikamaru soon made it close to the tent with the baby in his back.

He sees a couple of civilians running in the road. Suddenly a rogue-ninja creates a fireball with his breath and sends the innocent people ablaze. Shikamaru watched in horror as they are then cut down by another rogue-ninja with a large nodachi (a type of katana/sword).

No time to help these people now. He had to get to Kurenai fast. The horrors he thought of what Kurenai must be enduring right now in the hands of the enemy leader, Shikamaru couldn't picture them out, but knew they were nasty indeed.

O-O

She stood inside the tent wearing her usual shinobi outfit, eyes close and lifting her head to the heavens. She was one with the Blue-Kage, the god of the rogue ninjas. Little by little both of them shared an intimacy in the soul, sharing their past, present and their future; their strengths and weaknesses. Kurenai slowly began to realize the existence of the Blue Kage, of how he came into being. It was during the time of the "Dreadful Reign of Yagura" where the Blue Kage had been conceived. From the strong emotions of fear and madness, the dark souls of the child ninjas in the village subconsciously created an imaginary person, to escape from all the negativities that they had. The BlueKage was but a flicker of light and darkness back then, they called him Sora, which means blue. Little by little Sora began to feel alive, and soon the Blue Kage realized, that by powerful negative emotions such as fear and pain, he would slowly become alive. It was an emotion that did not stem from the soldier shinobis of the Hidden Villages, but a negative emotion so strong, that they can only be harvested from the sub-conscious of weaker individuals.

Kurenai was falling into chaos, battling with willpower against the entity invading her. But she knew she would soon give way to him, it was only a matter of time before the Sora the Blue Kage overcame her resistance.

She realized that she could move if she wanted to, but would suddenly be stopped abruptly by Sora's will. It was a weird feeling, of being in control and not being in control. Nevertheless, even though Sora was inside her, she knew there was a flicker of her spirit remaining in battle for her body.

"Give in to it! There is no escape, once I am reborn I will have my own body, and I shall spread fear through the lands!" She hears a fatherly-like voice inside her head. The loudness of the BlueKage's volume reverberated in her subconscious, making her almost deaf from the voice of such a powerful spirit. She had to bite her lips to come out of the imaginary pain she felt. Her legs began to feel wobbly, and for a second she loses balance, and goes down to her knees.

"Tut-tut, be careful now. Shouldn't waste such a beautiful body" Kurenai suddenly stands up without her free will, she grabs the baby's crib for a ledge and uses it as base in standing up.

"Why do you need me?" Kurenai asked the entity before her. "My body is weak, perhaps weaker than the other stronger, younger ninjas in this march or your cabal."

"You will know that soon enough." The fatherly-like voice began to speak. And then, to the horror of Kurenai he begins to take over her mind, peeking deep into the subconscious, looking at facts in her past, of her days as a young brat in Konoha, of her parents, of the sudden dream to become a geisha, of the changing of that dream to be a shinobi, of her techniques, of Asuma and their lovemaking, of the baby, the most important person to her life right now. She begins to move on her own, and then she starts to perform a few hand-seals.

O-O

Shikamaru was running rather fast in his way to the tent where Kurenai was at. He sees that the area was guarded heavily by several rogue shinobis, he counts that there are three of them guarding it, all wearing demon-masks and blue robes.

He tries to look for any location where he could hide the baby. He was half naked in the throng, wearing only a pair of ragged pants and nothing on his torso and his feet.

Then his search is interrupted when he sees a rogue-ninja fall from a thrown shuriken by one of the ESR members. The rogue-ninja had suddenly fallen down a tree, a shuriken protruding on his bloody face.

Shikamaru thought of an idea to handle the situation. He climbs a tree in a ninja like fashion (while carrying the baby at his back), and looks out to the crowd ahead of him. A few seconds occur and Shikamaru finds what he is looking for, a huge battle occurring.

Five ESR shinobis were fighting seven blue-robed rogue ninjas. Clashing kunais and throwing shurikens at each other. It seems like the five ESR shinobis were losing the fight from being outnumbered. Shikamaru sneaks his way into the fight and uses his "Shadow Imitation/Technique" to bind/disable all the blue robed rogue-ninjas in the fight.

"Now! Finish them while they cannot move!" Shikamaru shouts to the ESR ninjas, by their movements and reactions he judges them to be chuunins.

After disabling his targets with his "Shadow Imitation/Binding Technique" the fight ended fast. The ESR shinobis made a quick coup-de-grace by throwing shurikens or stabbing them with a kunai, one even launched a fireball jutsu at his enemy, sending a robed-rogue crying in agony from the flames.

"I need all the men I can get to take out their leader!" Shikamaru didn't give the ESR chuunins enough time to say their thanks to him. "If we take him out fast, we could force the enemies to surrender!"

A chuunin with a baby face and a long hair wearing Naruto's old googles salutes him, and replies quickly "Aye sir! We shall do our best to end this fast!" It sounded as if he was scowling instead of replying to Shikamaru. For a moment the kid reminded him of Naruto, brash and persistent. They didn't even bother to question why Shikamaru was half naked.

And so they set-off, all six Konoha ninjas to infiltrate Kurenai's tent.

O-O

Shikamaru had laid his plans to the chuunins in how to dispatch the guards quickly, and it was a good plan indeed. They made quick work of the three guards, with Shikamaru using his "Shadow Imitation/Binding Technique" again.

"What the fuck!" A blue-robed-rogue-ninja mutters when he realizes that he suddenly cannot move. "I can't move!" He forces himself to raise his spear but is unable to do it.

"Now! Finish them!" Shikamaru shouts.

The rogue-ninjas couldn't even turn their heads around, when five chuunins suddenly came out of the bushes to either stab or slash them with a kunai. A few "ugh!" "aaagh!" sounds were heard when the attacks of the ESR chuunins finished.

"Good work!" Shikamaru comes into the clearing, this time he had already removed the shadow jutsu that he made. "Now we go inside the tent and take out their leader!"

"Yes sir!" The ESR chuunins cried out in unison, their kunais were still bloody from the coup-de-grace they made.

"Nobody is going inside the master's tent!" A voice booms loudly in the air, the ESR chuunins and Shikamaru look at their surroundings to see where it was coming from. "Water Clone Bomb Technique!" Shikamaru hears the voice shout. And to his horror, the corpses of the three rogue-ninja guards erupted into a huge watery explosion, knocking out the ESR chuunins close to them.

The three corpses exploded so powerfully that the ESR chuunins close to them were sent flying on random directions, tearing away suit and skin from the powerful force made by the water explosion.

In a heartbeat Shikamaru finds himself alone with Kurenai's baby in the clearing. The ESR chuunins were either dead or rolling in the ground in agony from the pain made by the explosion. He hears one of the chuunins slowly mumbling "Mommy! Huhuhu! I can't see." The splash of the water bomb had hit his face rendering him blind.

Shikamaru cursed himself for being rather rash with his decisions to come out fast. He hadn't thought that there would be other guards nearby that he and five ESR chuunins couldn't handle. Nor had he thought of a trap being laid toward Kurenai's tent. The five blue-robed-rogue ninjas guarding the tent were actually "Water Clones" made by someone to trap any intruders nearby. He cursed himself for not observing the characteristics of the guards properly. Their demon masks differed from each other, but aside from that the guards' height and body build were all the same, which could've confirmed suspicions that they were nothing but Mizu bunshins (water clones).

A ninja suddenly somersaults his way to the clearing where Shikamaru and the baby stood. He wore a blue sleeveless jacket striped with black lines horizontally, several bandages covered the muscular arms he carried, on his forehead stood a forehead protector bearing the mark of a ninja of the Hidden Mist, a single slash is seen on the symbol which indicated that he was a traitor or deserter ninja of his village. He carries a rather medium sized katana strapped on his waist, several scars seem to line his face.

The rogue ninja removes his katana and stabs at the ESR chuunin in his way, this was the chuunin crying moans of "mommy!" earlier. The chuunin suddenly stops crying and gurgles all of a sudden as he drowns in his own blood.

"I am Saizo, second hand of the Blue Kage. And you are not making a single step inside this tent!" Saizo removes his katana from the corpse and points it to Shikamaru, who then changes his position to a hand-seal pose.

Saizo laughs at him. "I have seen what your jutsu can do, they might have worked on my water clones, but they won't work on me!" He says confidently.

Shikamaru grabbed the baby tightly. His face turning into worry.


	7. Chapter 7

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

Counter Genjutsu = A technique commonly used by Kurenai to get away out of an illusion. This is usually seen in the manga and anime as her inflicting minor pain on herself to get away of the illusion; such as biting her lip or pinching her skin.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Supporting Characters:

Saizo = Rogue Shinobi, seconds hand of the Blue Kage, he fashions a medium sized katana as a weapon.

Sora = The Blue Kage, the archenemy of the story

What are you doing Kurenai?

Kurenai drowns in the darkness, which was everywhere. She floats with eyes open in a seemingly endless blue sea, the color and symbol of Sora, the Blue Kage. Even though she was trained greatly in the art of genjutsu the images shown by the Blue Kage overwhelms her spirit. The unworldly being was too powerful for her mind to overcome.

It was an illusion formed from the negative emotions of the people who created the image of Sora. Twisted ghost like faces hung heavily in the water, crying and whimpering for salvation. They claw at her, mumbling an eerie sound of "mother!" "mother save me!" There were thousands of those faces, faces which resembled a person deprived of the basic necessities of life, food, shelter and water. They were malnourished, skeletal, sad and angry at the same time; sad at the faith that had befallen them, and angry at the person responsible for their suffering.

Kurenai, not new to the horrors of genjutsu tries her best to get away from the illusion. At first, she bites her lip to try and wake up from her dream state. When that doesn't work she resorts to punching her belly several times, but the pain doesn't do her any good, the drowned ghosts were still there, clawing at every inch of her body. She tries to will her way out of the genjutsu, thinks of the people most important to her, of Asuma and of her baby. When the ghosts' faces suddenly turn to that of her child she cries out in anguish, suddenly lost in fear of what could happen.

"My baby! Where is my baby?!" She screams at her assailants in panic. "What have you done to him!"

The Blue Kage, appears in her right ear as a tiny blue bubble. When the bubble bursts it whispers in her ear in a fatherly like voice. "I see your weaknesses Miss Yuhi! And I will use them against you. The world outside us has become hell, and your child is dead, another victim of its hardships."

"No! It's not real, it's only a genjutsu! An illusion to trick my mind!" Kurenai screams, but nobody is listening to her, the ghosts were all too busy clinging to her for dear life…or revenge.

"But it is real, very real!" The Blue Kage chuckles. "You have lost, Kurenai Yuhi!"

Kurenai tries to swim to the top, to try and get away the ghosts which hung onto her, only to realize that there is no surface in this sea that she is in. That she is forever trapped in a blue unending sea of water and ghosts.

The horror of the situation puts her into a state of regal shock. She desperately claws at her elbows, tries to inflict as much pain as she can to get away from the illusion. But the fear of her baby overwhelms her, makes her "counter-genjutsu" weak, makes her forget all the pain that she is feeling right now. The pressure she exerts in her elbows is strong enough that in the real world she tears at her skin in the process.

"And now, we shall begin my rebirth!" The Blue Kage's voice boom in a very regal but eerie fashion.

O-O

Shikamaru thinks fast in how to battle this Saizo rogue-ninja. He needed to take his time, needed to relax to be able to defeat him.

"Shadow Imitation Technique!" Shikamaru mumbles quietly. His shadow suddenly extends away from him like a snake making its way towards Saizo.

Saizo dodges the snake shadow by jumping up a tree. He focuses chakra on his feet to climb without using his hands. The shadow of Shikamaru follows him as he does this.

"I've already told you! It's useless, I have seen what your jutsu can do!" Saizo throws a shuriken at Shikamaru laughing.

Shikamaru dodges the thrown weapon by rolling to the side then continues his jutsu to control his shadow. He thinks of a plan as the enemy continues to dodge the snake like shadow.

Saizo jumps from the tree he was standing at, performs several hand seals and fires multiple water bullets at Shikamaru. His hand seals were very fast, and instead of firing one water bullet at a time like the soldier rogue-ninjas Shikamaru once fought, Saizo's jutsu fired a dozen in a rapid fashion. It looked like a gattling gun strafing circular blue colored bullets at the target.

"Shadow Sewing Technique!" Shikamaru mumbles quietly, and suddenly, his shadow split into sharp needle like tentacles, sprouting from the ground to parry and/or impale the water bullets. Water splashes were everywhere, and it seemed as if it was raining after their exchange. The baby begins to cry after being wet from all the water.

"Oh, so you've got several tricks up your sleeve!" Saizo smiles at him. "This is going to be a fun fight between you and me Konoha ninja." He pulls out his katana, and dodges the snake like shadow still coming at him. He tries all sorts of maneuvers and acrobatics to evade Shikamaru's jutsu, from jumping to walls, rolling in the ground, to using a tree as leverage for a tumble.

"I've got more tricks than you can ever imagine." Shikamaru stares at him seriously. He then changes the position of his hand seal, and all of a sudden the snake like shadow following Saizo splits into two. Saizo seemed surprised at first, but regains his confidence when the shadow snakes cannot catch up to his speed.

"Too slow!" Saizo laughs while tumbling and somersaulting away from his shadow snake.

"Not yet!" Shikamaru scowls at him, he changes his hand seal one more time, and his shadow snakes begin to split into two again, making the shadow snakes four this time.

Saizo begins to feel uneasy, and suspects a trick somewhere. "Oh, so you can multiply your spears _(he is figuratively speaking in here, referring to spears as Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Jutsu snakes),_ Well I can do that to!" He then performs a few hand seals. "Water Clone technique!" He screams out, and after this he conjures an exact copy of himself, a water clone.

Shikamaru is not listening to him, nor does he seem to pay any good attention to the Water Clone/Mizu Bunshin Saizo conjured. "Not yet!" Shikamaru changes his hand seal again, and his shadow snakes become eight this time.

"What the fuck! How many can you make?" Saizo is somewhat dumbfounded by the sudden change of the situation, it was getting harder and harder to dodge the shadow snakes as they split up and become more numerous every time Shikamaru changes his hand seal.

Shikamaru sweats heavily in controlling his shadow snakes, the strain of the jutsu was becoming heavier every time he doubles the number of his shadow snakes. "Now!" He screams, changes his hand seal one last time, and split his shadow snakes again, this time numbering sixteen shadow snakes all in all.

The Shadow Snakes surround Saizo from all sides, right and left, front and back, his bottom, to his northeast and northwest, southeast and southwest. It seemed as if there was no escape.

"Shit!" Saizo grinds his teeth, jumps to the elbows of his water clone, and positions his right hand to a prayer like hand seal. "Water Clone explosion Technique!" He screams out his jutsu, and in a flash, his water clone explodes sending him high into the air and dodging the shadow snakes of Shikamaru. Several rocks fly and the ground erupt from the explosion.

Shikamaru doesn't finish his attack there, he releases his jutsu (removes his Shadow Imitation Technique/ Stops his hand seal position) and runs straight through Saizo with a kunai in hand.

Just after Saizo lands from the air he sees Shikamaru charging at him with a kunai in hand. He swings his katana in a backhand fashion, and Shikamaru blocks the slash with his kunai and his free hand. Shikamaru then grabs hold of Saizo's katana, preventing his target from escaping.

"I've got you!" Shikamaru stares at Saizo coldly. His and Saizo's shadow then merge as one, and Saizo is rendered immobile since he is now caught with Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique.

"No, you don't have me. It is I who has you now!" Saizo chuckles.

And to Shikamaru's horror he realizes that the Saizo he is holding right now is another water clone. "Kai!/Release!" Saizo screams, and his water clone suddenly explodes.

Shikamaru has enough time to dodge critical damage from the blow, but the force of the water explosion makes him lose hold of the baby on his back. The baby cries when it is dropped to the ground.

"Damnit!" Shikamaru mutters a curse, and runs to the baby to protect it from further collateral damage done by him and Saizo's battle.

"You're wide open!" Saizo then screams, he had already finished his hand seal and was conjuring another jutsu. This time, it was a summoning technique. A man sized flying shark comes out in a puff of smoke and darts towards Shikamaru and the baby. _(I know it sounds crazy seeing a shark fly in mid-air)_

Shikamaru could've dodged the shark easily, but the baby being there restricted his movements. He needed to protect the baby from the darting shark, and he didn't have enough time to carry him (the baby) to safety, so he did the only thing he could. He enfolded the baby with his body and covered it from the darting shark, the shark's sharp teeth bit his right elbow, and he cringes from the pain.

He tries to move away, or throw the baby into safety, but the shark attached to his skin keeps on wriggling, sending a shower of Shikamaru's blood on the floor. He drops on his knees and cries from the pain.

It was over, he had lost he said to himself. He looks at the baby, Kurenai's baby, the baby he had sworn to protect, the woman whom he promised to protect and make happy. It cannot end this way, he shakes the feeling of nausea away, and tries to overcome the shark's sharp teeth. He comes up with one knee, and tries to come up with two. But the strength of the shark's bite was too strong that it sent him nauseated.

"Oh shit! It looks like the teeth impaled through your right lung!" Saizo walks towards the cringing Shikamaru, twirling his katana playfully. "It must be very hard to breathe right now." He chuckles.

Shikamaru doesn't listen to him, instead he summons all the strength in his left arm to pick up a kunai and stab at the shark repeatedly. Every time he does this he seemed to run out of breath as he begins to drown on his own blood internally.

"Must protect…Kurenai!" He mumbles and stabs at the shark again. This time the shark's wounds gave way, and it soon hangs dying on his right arm and chest it's teeth still biting deep at his lungs. "Must…protect…baby!" Shikamaru tries to remove the dying shark from his chest, but his strength suddenly fails from loss of breath.

"You can't protect shit!" Saizo prepares for the coup-de-grace.

Shikamaru looks up as Saizo raises his katana to decapitate him. A tired look covers his entire face, tears welling on his eyes from either the pain of the shark's bite or the sorrow of being unable to protect Kurenai and the baby.

Then all of a sudden Saizo's face contorts into someone surprised, turning suddenly into someone shocked. His katana drops on the ground and clatters with a metallic sound. Shikamaru's face turns into that of someone confused. The dying shark suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving Shikamaru's wound open, and spilling his life fluids on the ground.

Saizo, all of a sudden begins to choke, and grab his neck. "No! The pain! Make it stop!" He rolls in the ground in agony.

Shikamaru, who was kneeling at the ground and somewhat confused of the things happening holds the baby in his arms tightly and moves away slowly from the flailing Saizo.

"Make it stop!" Saizo screams some more, bubbles were foaming out of his mouth.

Shikamaru who was dying, tired and unexpectedly relieved from the sudden turn of events takes time to breathe. It was painful every time he inhaled or exhaled he felt something liquid-like bubbling on his lungs, making him cough blood. Then he hears more screams in his surroundings, a scream so loud that it began to hurt his ears.

He looks at the area around him, at the once mass of battles between rogue and ninjas and running civilians. The whole place had become a madhouse. Everybody was screaming or crying like crazy, everybody except Shikamaru. He looks at Kurenai's baby, who had now stopped crying.

"A genjutsu. A very powerful one. Powerful enough to cover such a huge area, and so much people!" Shikamaru thought. Then he questioned the fact as to why he wasn't affected at all. He closes his eyes and begins to think of the clues ahead of him.

It took Shikamaru a few seconds to connect all the facts: The Blue Kage, an entity made from the negative emotions of people = someone who is able to merge with the soul of another, Kurenai = a genjutsu user, genjutsu = can create fear in people.

It all made sense to him now, the Blue Kage needed Kurenai's mastery in genjutsu to instill fear and dread on all the people in the area to feed on more negative emotions. So that he can be reborn, the Blue Kage needed a huge mass of negative emotions from the people around him. But why was he protected from the genjutsu of Kurenai? Was it because he was carrying her baby with him? Did Kurenai subconsciously protect the baby from her genjutsu?

"Kurenai!" Shikamaru's thoughts suddenly went to her. He limped his way to the tent carrying the baby with him.

Every step was very painful for Shikamaru, whenever he raised his feet to move forward he seemed to faint as the energy needed for the action made him winded. He was losing consciousness slowly and everything around him seemed to be getting dark. He could no longer hear the cries of the people around him. And the only thing Shikamaru could see was the entrance of the tent.

When he finally got inside the tent, Shikamaru had to drop the baby slowly on the ground as he used his left hand to lean on a wooden pole. Panting for breath and coughing out blood, he found Kurenai inside the tent standing, eyes closed and arms pointing to the ground. Blood seemed to drip slowly from her deltoid regions (due to her scratching them with her fingernails in order to escape the genjutsu of the Blue Kage).

Shikamaru gets close to her and puts his left hand on her shoulder since he could no longer move his right arm from the shark bite earlier.

Shikamaru tries to shake her into consciousness, but his strength fails to do so. He could hardly lift his shaking arms from the pain and fatigue which he suffered from. He tries to shout a word to Kurenai, to convince her to snap out of it, but his lungs fail him. He could hardly even breathe from the blood pooling at his right lung. So he did the only thing he could, he leans his head forward and kisses Kurenai forcibly.


	8. Chapter 8

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Blue Cult = A cult of shinobis who worship an illusion known as the Blue Kage. Belief and prayers keep him alive and real.

Counter Genjutsu = A technique commonly used by Kurenai to get away out of an illusion. This is usually seen in the manga and anime as her inflicting minor pain on herself to get away of the illusion; such as biting her lip or pinching her skin.

The Blue Kage = Explained in the story

ESR = Evacuation Shinobi Reserve; the Shinobi forces assigned to safeguard and protect the civilians evacuating in certain hidden villages. These shinobis are mostly composed of Konoha ninjas who were too inexperienced, young or old to fight in the front lines during the Shinobi World War 4.

Supporting Characters:

Sora = The Blue Kage, the archenemy of the story

What are you doing Kurenai?

Kurenai's last chance of escaping the jutsu was the image of Asuma, the man whom she loved, the father of her baby. When Asuma appeared inside her mind, the ghost like figures clawing at her began to lose power. Slowly, her strength began to return, and she could move freely in the blue water, the symbol of Sora, the Blue Kage.

Asuma seemed to be half naked to her, wearing nothing but his jonin pants and boots on him. He was swimming his way to Kurenai, destroying any ghosts on his wake. When the two of them got close to each other the landscape changed from the blue waters of the sea to that of a green hill, on top of the green hill stood a huge sakura tree. Asuma smiled at her, he didn't need to say anything. His eyes said everything. Kurenai could hear him saying that it was going to be okay, that she needed to be strong for both herself and the baby.

"Protect my King." Asuma smiles at her.

He holds her cheek with his warm hands until Kurenai gets lost in the feeling. Then he kisses her.

Kurenai remembers the first time she and Asuma kissed. It was when the two of them were sitting on a bench where Asuma suddenly did it out of the blue. She had been shocked from his sudden advance that night, but she didn't complain or try to escape from him.

"Have you been smoking?" She asks Asuma a few seconds after the sudden kiss.

"Well, umm…" Asuma scratches his head and doesn't know what to say. Kurenai suddenly kisses him.

In the real world outside the genjutsu of the Blue Kage Shikamaru is surprised when Kurenai kisses him back. She had raised her arms and had held at Shikamaru's face when she does this. That was the last thing he remembered, for after that, he fainted from the fatigue of his injuries.

Kurenai, out of the illusion breaks his fall by catching him with her arms. The coldness of his blood brushes against her skin, painting her clothes and arms in a crimson mess.

Shikamaru with eyes closed mumbles a few words "Must..protect….Miss."

Kurenai suddenly feels a sense of dread when she is reminded of her baby. All thoughts of Shikamaru disappeared when the safety of her baby came into mind. Then she is relieved of these worries when she sees the baby lying safe on the ground, its arms trying to flail here and there as if looking for his guardian.

Kurenai leans forward to grab her baby and cradle it in her arms. Shikamaru's head lies on her legs, his arms encircling her waist as if clinging for life.

Suddenly aware of the Blue Kage's/Sora's presence, Kurenai is forced to look to her right. There she sees the apparition of Sora in a semi-fowlers position. His one arm was used as leverage to maintain his posture. His other hand grabs at his heart as he was clinging for dear life. He was breathing heavily, a shocked mask on his face as he watched at Kurenai in horror.

"Your genjutsu is done. Never again will you threaten the people that I care about." Kurenai shots an angry and determined look at him.

"No! I was almost there!" Sora looks at his left hand which was already beginning to spark with life. "It's not fair! I was almost there!" He begins to scream at Kurenai. But with every sound and movement he makes, the essence of life seemed to escape his body, turning him ethereal once again.

Sora forced his now material legs. He gets up somewhat shaken and weak from his rebirth. He uses his left hand to remove the mask covering half of his head to reveal a shiny yellow colored face.

"I will get there! I will be alive again, alive and free!" The Blue Kage tries to stand up, but soon finds his hands rooted to the floor as huge plant roots erupted from the ground and ensnare him.

"You were never there." Kurenai exclaims, her left hand forming a prayer hand seal as her right carried the baby.

"You think you can battle me with genjutsu and win!" The Blue Kage forces a laugh. The laugh felt forced as he tried to force his way out of the plant roots.

Kurenai doesn't answer. Instead what she does is pick a kunai from Shikamaru's pockets and throw it at the Blue Kage's head.

The kunai's tip hit Sora in mouth, making it look as if he had swallowed a kunai. Sora gargles blood as he tries to breathe the kunai out of his mouth. Then he breaks out of the genjutsu of plant roots and uses his right hand to pull the kunai from his mouth free. A few tissues are shown when the bloody weapon is removed. He forces a macabre smile as blood starts to drip on his mouth.

"You loose!" He then forms a few hand seals, probably to create another genjutsu for battle.

Kurenai throws a shuriken at him but he dodges it and continues with his hand seal. Kurenai throws two more, and three more, but Sora could either dodge them or block them with his arm without feeling any pain.

Sora, from the frustration of her attempts pulls out a shuriken sticking on his right hand and throws it back at Kurenai, who had no way of blocking it since she was carrying Shikamaru and the baby with her body.

To protect the two of them, Kurenai hugs them both tightly as the shuriken hits her in the back. The throw was so hard that the shuriken bit deep at the muscles in her back. Then Sora jumps at her while she is not looking and bites her deep in the neck.

Only to find out that he was biting a tree log all along. The real Kurenai stands behind him, several throwing weapons in hand.

"How did you….?" Sora looks at her dumbfounded. He is also unable to finish his sentence when he suddenly finds six shurikens sticking in his back.

Due to this attack, Sora got more angry. He turns around with a feral look in front of Kurenai. His arms positioned for a wrestling lunge. He hears something funny in his back, more like a fuse. His eyes turn to horror as he predicts what happens next.

Sora's whole world exploded when the exploding tags attached to the shurikens erupt.

After the smoke clears Kurenai eyes Sora sprawling on the ground, burnt, weak and dying. She had already placed Shika and the baby to safety when the events happened. She walks closer as Sora crawls and grabs her feet.

"I was almost there." Sora cries

"Just die, and never come near me and the ones I love again." Kurenai concludes. Then Sora's eyes close, he had died as a human being.

Kurenai stares at her enemy one last time as he lies smoking and dead on the floor. Then she turns around and tends to Shikamaru and the baby.

O-O

It was already morning, and the evacuation of the civilians of Konoha had undergone a halt from the attack yesterday. The ESR was helping the tired people recuperate from the damages done by Saizo and his cult. There would be no marching for today, the ESR officials had decided on this. They would rest for one morning, and the next day they would resume their march to safer territories.

It was a hard fought battle between the amateur ninjas of Konoha, and the rogue ninjas of the Hidden Village of the Mist. But in the end, the superior numbers and weaponry of the ESR ninjas proved to be the deciding factor in the battle. Many shinobi lives were lost that night, both ESR and rogues.

She had asked help from her neighbors to nurse Shikamaru from his injuries. And when the old women left them alone on her tent, there was nothing to do all day but watch Shikamaru sleep.

Kurenai had resumed to her chores when Shikamaru was resting, such as breastfeeding the baby, putting an ice pack on Shika's forehead, and giving him a sponge bath when a fever broke out.

Shikamaru was mostly lethargic yesterday. He would mumble a few words such as yes or no to Kurenai, and sometimes just nod when she tries to strike a conversation.

"Take this red balm that the elders in the village have concocted. They say it's a special homebrew medicine made by their ancestors to cure wounds real fast." Kurenai handed Shikamaru the red balm as he sat on the bed to steady himself before getting up.

Slow change in positioning was an important intervention for most patients who had just undergone blood-loss. According to medical books, a rapid change in positioning could cause a rapid change in blood-pressure, thus making the patient dizzy if he tries to get up too fast on the bed. Kurenai had advised Shikamaru to sit for a few minutes first before getting up.

Shikamaru had already stood up before Kurenai could assist him. Putting his clothes on, Kurenai could notice distortions on his face everytime he moved his muscles. There was definitely physical pain that he felt there. He had received numerous wounds and bruises from last night's battle. And a one day rest doesn't seem enough to regenerate Shika's injuries.

"Take this red balm that the elders in the village have concocted. They say it's a special homebrew medicine made by their ancestors to cure wounds real fast." Kurenai handed Shikamaru the red balm as he sat on the bed to steady himself before getting up.

O-O

The first thing that came through his mind when Shikamaru learned about the fact that he was saved by Kurenai was shame. There was also this feeling of relief that the nightmare has been over already. There was also this feeling of relief, that Kurenai and the baby were no longer under threat of the dangerous Blue Kage. But despite this break, Shikamaru couldn't help but get annoyed at himself for not being the one capable of protecting Kurenai.

"I need to be going back to the rendezvous Miss Yuhi. It's nice that you were safe." Shikamaru focuses his vision in the buttoning of his clothes. He didn't want to look at Kurenai face to face right now. He was ashamed and angry at himself. Why was I not strong enough to protect Miss Yuhi against her enemies? What did I come here for in the first place? He keeps mumbling these things in his mind, and it seemed like an eternity for the two of them when Shikamru knelt down to tie his shoe-laces.

To Shikamaru it felt like him coming here was nothing but a burden to Kurenai. Instead of protecting her, it was he who had been protected by Kurenai. And he didn't want to use this issue as a topic in a conversation with Kurenai. He had sworn to protect her and the baby, but he had failed those things right now. Thinking about it scared him. It made him feel weak and lacking.

"I'm sorry for being a burden." He still doesn't look at her. He tries to look for his cigarettes as an excuse to avert from her gaze. "I'll be going now Miss Yuhi." Shikamaru says.

A few moment of silence, Shikamaru walks to the tent exit.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kurenai says, she sounded as if she were about to scold Shikamaru.

Shikamaru stops. His back facing Kurenai. "What is it Miss Yuhi?" He lights his cigarette as he asks this question.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Shikamaru. You have already done so much to save me and the baby." Kurenai says, her arms crossing on her breasts.

"I don't feel like it was enough." Shikamaru blows a puff of smoke as he says these words.

"You were great out there Shikamaru." Kurenai suddenly walks on his left side and grabs his left hand with both of her hands. "You've become strong."

Shikamaru bites his tongue to prevent himself from crying. No, I won't show any sign of weakness in front of Miss Yuhi. "I, I want to be much much stronger Miss Kurenai." Shikamaru sounded as if he had been holding back those words he had just blurted out. "I want to protect you and the baby more."

Kurenai smiles at him and touches his cheeks. "It's okay. I know you now Shikamaru, you will become stronger. I am thankful that Asuma was your teacher."

Shikamaru drops his cigarette and looks at Kurenai face to face. Here was a woman fourteen years his senior, beautiful, loving and strong. Right now she seemed a hundred years away from him. Even with that beauty, with that gentleness and kindness of a woman she was strong. She was definitely a hundred times, no, a thousand times stronger than himself. Here was a woman whom he wanted to surpass, a woman whom he admired, loved and treasured the most. Shikamaru felt proud and anxious as he perceives these feelings. Proud from the fact that he had known such a wonderful woman, and that his teacher, Asuma sensei had fallen for someone like her. Who wouldn't? He said to himself. And he also felt anxious, from the fact that it would be a long time before he surpasses her. He wanted to protect her and the baby right now, to become stronger this very instant. To surpass Kurenai, so that one day, he would be of help to her and the baby.

And then it dawned in on Shikamaru. Kurenai had been through hell. The pain it felt when loosing Asuma sensei must have been such a huge determining factor to her strength. What kind of upgrade did Kurenai achieve from the sorrow and unfortunate events? Was she always this strong? Perhaps she was even stronger than Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru thought. With a baby to protect, she would force herself to become a different woman. _I will surpass you Miss Yuhi. _Shikamaru whispered silently in his thoughts.

"It was nice meeting you again Miss Yuhi. When I return from the Great Shinobi World War, I will become stronger, and I will protect you and the baby more." Shikamaru says.

O-O

"Godspeed Shikamaru." Kurenai lets go of his left hand and smiles at him. She looks at Shikamaru and marvels at the man he had grown. From somebody completely out of her radar (metaphorically speaking), to a man, a man she really liked, maybe even wanted as a lover if he wasn't so young. For a moment she felt like hugging him, or kissing him on the cheeks. But that would seem awkward to both of them. Instead she bids him goodbye, and turns around to pick up her baby. She noticed that Shikamaru didn't leave the tent just yet. He was still looking at her and the baby.

She tries to think up of anything to talk about. It was already getting uncomfortable for her when Shikamaru was just standing there at the tent exit looking at her.

"Here, have some rice cakes before you go." She fumbles on the table for a few rice-cakes she had cooked last night.

Shikamaru looked as if he was suddenly out of his trance when Kurenai handed him the rice-cakes. They both look at it with suspicion, it was already cold and dry. "Heheh! Thanks." Shikamaru receives the rice cake like an idiot.

"I wanted to see both of you for a long time. I will be thinking of you and the baby a lot in the Fourth Division Miss Yuhi" Shikamaru puts the rice-cakes in his pockets and begins to march outside the tent.

Kurenai felt relieved from the fact that she had worn make up today. Shikamaru might have seen the red colors swelling on her cheeks if she hadn't.

When Shikamaru was already a few meters away from her tent Kurenai with her baby stares at him as he lengthens their distance.

"You were a lucky man Asuma-kun." Kurenai mumbles. "Thank you my love, for giving this last gift for me." Kurenai smiles as she watches Shikamaru head off to the Shinobi World War.

_THE END_


	9. Prologue

Tales of the Shinobi War 2

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

What are you doing Kurenai? (PROLOGUE)

Shikamaru tries to walk slowly as he can and look calm and relaxed from his travel towards the rendezvous point at Fourth Division.

"Phew! It's a good thing Miss Yuhi doesn't remember a thing about that night. Else it would've been awkward for both of us." He plays with his rice cake tossing it here and there. "Hmmm..I think I'm safe for now. Kurenai and the baby are okay, and I haven't disrespected my teacher by stealing his woman from him." Shikamaru opens the rice cake, puts it inside his mouth, and chew happily.

"Shikamaru-kun!" Kurenai shouts from the entrance of her tent, her cute fluffy baby on her arms.

Shikamaru turns around smiling at her. She was waving her free hand at him so he waves back at her. "Goodbye Miss Yuhi!"

"Shikamaru!" Kurenai shouts again.

"Goodbye!" She hadn't heard him say goodbye, so Shikamaru repeats it even louder.

"Thank's for the kiss of life!" Kurenai shouts.

Shikamaru almost choked on his rice cake when he heard this. It was now evident, that people were looking at the two of them as they were shouting at each other, turning their heads left and right, east and west. He swore he could hear a _"tsk tsk"_ or a _"how shameful" _sound whispered by the elders and women at the corner. There was even one comment Shikamaru heard saying something about how both of them looked like they weren't of the same age.

Shikamaru turns around in a gloomy mood "So she does know about it!" His face in a sea of worry as he says these words.

O-O

Shikamaru continues to walk towards his rendezvous point and Kurenai returns to her tent snickering at her tease and joke to Shikamaru.

"Sorry for that Shikamaru-kun." Kurenai plays with her baby as she says these words slowly. "It was already getting boring with you just a few meters away."

Kurenai puts the baby on the crib and stretches her arms, ready to do some training as a kunoichi again.

In the middle of the two of them, right at the bushes stood two ESR ninjas. They weren't trying to hide, they just came in there to say their goodbyes to Shikamaru. Any friend of Naruto was their friend as well. But the events that had just unfolded made them drop their jaws. Konohamaru and Iruka sensei are both seen holding their cheeks with their hands.

"I did not just hear that." Iruka sensei stared blankly at the horizon.

Then they look at each other. "Ohhh EeeM Geeee!" The two broke out in chorus.


End file.
